Tearing out your heart that's beating like a drum
by Foxmiscellania
Summary: Technopathy known as the ability to control and manipulate machines with the mind. Leon August was born with the ability to hear the technology in the background of his life and never uses it. Until he uploads into a Holon for the first time.(Rated M for language, Fix-it AU)
1. Chapter 1

Leon was dreaming again.

He'd been having the same dream for a while, different places each time. Today he was in the Anvil, heading down a hallway towards the Gen:Lock room. As he heads down towards the room he slows down, dragging his feet through sludge. As he slows to a near stop he begins to reach out and drag himself by his arms. It isn't until he's inches from the pod in a dark room, his focus only on the pod. Wires, circuits, tubes wrap around his arms until he is being dragged back and when he looks down at the rest of his body it's slowly replaced by electronics pulling him apart bit by gory bit; he began to scream and then-

He's awake. New location. Starting all over again.

It usually starts with him wandering around, and today he passes by Chase and a doctor… Dr Jha? He's pretty sure that is who it is. Instead of wandering past he turns to follow. Can't be worse than the usual nightmare fuel.

"He's doing well, better than we could have hoped. However he shows no sign of waking up." They turn into a room and Leon follows them in despite it feeling like he's dragging through mud.

His focus is drawn to one thing in the space.

It's him; he's laying in a Gen:Lock pod, a face mask over his mouth and a constant scan keeping tabs on his brain and vitals.

This is the first time in a long time Leon thinks, maybe I'm not dreaming.

"So you think something else is wrong?" Chase asked and nodded "I believe we should try a second download. If nothing it may restore more of his mind."

_"But I'm right here, what if you download nothing? What if I'm not there too download?" _Leon asked. No one could hear him; except the machines, they slipped out of time and he looked over at them. Then down at his hands(The hands in the pod not the ones tangling in his hair.) They had a greenish circuit pattern, partially obscured from view by the edge of the pod.

For as long as Leon could remember he'd always been able to influence technology. When he'd *ethered it so long ago, it had been introduced to him as Technopathy. The ability to influence and control machinery with his mind. In a world of technology and ability it was useful. But it had never been really strong for him, a blip here, a question there, a whisper of information. Not that he was alone with his abilities, it was just so rare to find someone else with them that he'd long given up on knowing more than maybe two others in his life who had abilities on any scale. His by far being the weakest.

Leon darted out of the room, a plan forming in the back of his mind; to where he could feel the Holon he'd used in Chicago. He skidded to a stop in front of the Holon and paused. Seeing it filled him with a sense of both dread and a little bit of hope.

Shaking out of his stupor he started to climb. Up to where the brain casing was, he closed his eyes and placed his hands against the casing of the brain unit. The Cyberdome, the mindframe, e-brain thing unit that housed the minds of the pilots.

He slid slowly into the cyberdome. As he pressed deeper and deeper, he began to feel the edges of his vision fuzz and he closed his eyes.

Leon opened his eyes and saw-

"Migas I swear to god if that's a prank..." Leon narrowed his eyes as the mechanic fumbled the tool in his hands. Migas turned to stare once the tool was put down and out of harm's way.

He honestly wouldn't put it past Migas to prank whoever took over the Holon after he left it(He'd been on the receiving end of the prank once, never again.) Though now he was in it again-

"Leon!?"

"Yes?" Leon looked down, with a sense of triumph. He'd downloaded himself back into the Holon. He flexed his fingers feeling the harsh angles of metal that was his hands. He clenched his hands together before putting one hand on his hip watching Migas.

"LEON!?" Migas put his hands on his head, staring in a mixture of awe and excitement.

"Mig...gas?"

"LEON!" Migas launched himself off the platform right at Leon's face. He brought his hands up to catch the mechanic before Migas latched onto the edges of the metal and began rubbing his face against Leon's.

"I never thought I'd say this but I am so glad you're okay you stubborn asshole." Migas purred rubbing his face against what was the bridge of Leon's nose. It would have been hilarious except...

"I mean, I am also glad I'm alive. But you realize that my face is now four stories in the air?" Leon asked raising one eyebrow at the crazy mechanic.

"Oh! Uh, Uhm...Hm." Migas' eyes widened, and he clung a little bit tighter to the bridge of Leon's nose.

"I got you. I got you..." Leon held up his hands closer to let Migas fall into the palm and then put Migas down on the ground. Migas bolted; Leon watched as he ran out of the hangar. He sighed and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Then winced when it made a scraping sound; right metal on metal. Looking at the people around him, who looked as just confused as he felt nervous. They gave him an equally confused look before he remixed out of the holon to follow.

"DUDE!" Migas was excited, gesturing instead of explaining anything to a very confused Chase and the rest of the Gen:Lock crew.

Leon wandered over, slowly trying not to be seen at the same time as watch Migas' excited gesturing and incoherent attempt to explain. The motion behind the mechanic made the others look up.

"Leon?!" Chase gaped.

"Leon!" Migas shouted jumping up waving at Leon's overlay. "He's-'

That's when the shouting drowned everything else out.


	2. Chapter 2

Learning to be a Holon full time was… interesting. The whole sleeping in a void, felt odd. Not needing to eat and charge a battery instead, was weird, and not being able to interact with the world except as an avatar- not that weird but still took some getting used to outside the ether or mixing to meet his family.

In the meantime Leon worked with the others helping them up their game the same way he'd done in his strider. Now though he could correct Cammie or Kazu personally rather than asking Chase or Yasamin to do it for him. Kazu was still really bad at dealing with collateral damage and Cammie had a lot to learn since she wasn't a career fighter like the rest of them. They could hold their own but there was always room for improvement. He still routinely trounces Chase in hand to hand combat; something he'd done long before the battle of New York. Though he could not beat Yasamin or Val/entina. Yaz was faster and Val just danced around him.

"I think you're as ready as you're going to get. There is one thing." Chase said one day as they kneeled down so their Holons could be stowed. They were heading to the Anvil later that day. Command had wanted Gen:Lock to do a joint mission, and Leon had mixed feelings about being included with Gen:Lock despite his condition. He was still a vanguard soldier through- for the most part.

"You're hiding something." Chase crossed his arms, stopping their mixed forms halfway up the ramp.

"Excuse me?" Leon asked; crossing his arms defensively. Then winced as he noticed circuit patterns climbing his arms. It happened on occasion, when he could feel the whisper machines in his mind, though it had slowly stopped happening as he got older and ignored was like going through super power puberty, with them acting up strangely ever since his upload.

Chase squinted at the change and then started to laugh "Dude you're- were, are like I was- I mean am!"

"Excuse me?" Leon blinked at him trying to shake off the pattern. It worked... most of the time. Not so much this time, but usually.

"Ok so before New York did you know what I could press?" Chase asked holding out a hand palm up.

"What does that have to do with...? oh. "Leon stopped eyes widening.

Chase's inner overlay shifted a hexagonal pattern appearing over his body as he curled his fingers into a fist. Leon who could almost feel the strength coming off him. One he didn't have before. Make that three people other than him with abilities.

"I used to be able to bench press a strider. It doesn't help so much now. But I know. It's so nice to know I'm not the only one who's got an ability." Chase wrapped his arm around Leon's shoulders.

"Mine isn't as uh useful." Leon warned and Chase just smiled at him. "It's cool man, even if all you could do is turn green it's fine. It's nice not to be alone y'know?"

Leon couldn't completely understand, since he was young he'd known others like him. "I should introduce you to my sisters then." Leon snorted, they'd get a kick out of a man with super strength who was four stories tall.

"Wait your sisters have abilities?" Chase asked pulling away "Dri never did."

"We're not blood related, but yeah. Bailey can lift little things with her mind and Hailey is… explosive. That's the only way to explain it. But from what Bailey was trying to learn it's not inherited; just random." Leon explained.

"Right your twins, C'mon maybe we'll see at least one of them at Anvil." Chase gestured and Leon shook his head "Things changed in the last four years. Bailey's in Chicago last I heard and Hailey's MIA. Though Bailey still hears from her often enough." he explained

"That's shit man, maybe next time you see them then mention me. I'd love to talk more about it with others like us." Chase offered putting a hand on Leon's shoulder.

Leon nodded "I'll pass the message along. Right next to the one where I'm not dead."Both men snorted at the thought and continued into the ship.

Now if only they would answer his messages.


	3. Chapter 3

Miranda sighed as she and Jodie had been assigned to greet the Gen:Lock group. Not that she wasn't happy to see them, with regular calls and messages back and forth it was almost as if they were still in the Anvil.

"Think Leon's woken up yet?" Jodie asked her, she shook her head. "I don't know, the others don't want to talk about him much." She crossed her arms. Miranda didn't like thinking about the fact now two of the people she cared about were either stuck or hurt because of uploading to the Holons. She was starting to think the men in her life were cursed, and Jodie was next.

"HEYYYY!" Migas waved as the doors to the Renegade opened; he ran down and gave Jodie and Miranda fist bumps. Okay so not all the men in her life. "It's almost as if I haven't seen you in months guys. How's the techs treating you?"

"They're fine. They actually get the striders ready on time." Miranda joked and Migas looked mock hurt. He clutched at his chest and then started to laugh, they all turned to look at the rest of the gen:Lock Squad coming down the ramp.

"Welcome back to the Anvi-" Miranda shook her head looking to the rest of the Gen:Lock squad. She felt the room cool by a few degrees, Jodie reached out and grabbed at her arm and shook her a little bit. She elbowed him to let her go as they watched.

There was a ghost on the transport.

Leon walked down the transport ramp; he smiled at their gawking and stopped in front of him.

"Leon?!" they gaped unison.

"Kinda." Leon shrugged. Miranda took a step away from Migas and Jodie to reach out to Leon. Her hands passed through his arms and her eyes widened. "Sorry. But uh." He pointed back with a thumb and She and Jodie saw one of the Holons inside the ship open one eye and wave at them. She waved back automatically, eyes wide.

"Oh shit man." Jodie breathed. He sounded like she felt, off balance.

Leon shook his head, "Don't. I'm alive." He told them; Leon was one of the few good commanders in the strider program; he always looked out for his unit. Miranda inspected him; his mixed suit was a combination of the gen:lock uniform and his strider uniform and other than the change to his uniform Leon looked tired. More than usual; Leon by default almost always looked tired. This was different; he looked… exhausted.

"Does this mean someone else is going to take over our squad?" Jodie whined and Miranda sighed hitting her forehead with the palm of her quiet moment of inspection over.

Leon rolled his eyes and he shared a look with Miranda and It felt like home for a moment. Too bad it was be short lived. She assumed now he would be permanently assigned gen lock. They would have to look for a third, seriously this time.

"C'mon I'm assuming you're here for the debrief." She gestured for them to follow, turning her back on them so they couldn't see her face. She was sure Leon didn't need to see the guilt in her face.

The whole team was escorted to the debriefing room, Jodie and Miranda explaining any new additions as they passed by. They had scavenged alot of technology from the Union attack and were at work to find ways to either counter or use that tech to their advantage. Or to use it to patch holes in the walls that still lingered.

They arrived as the Debriefing room light went on. Colonel Marin waited inside, Leon had sent ahead a report on his condition; So she wouldn't surprised by his presence. She saw him and nodded, they would talk later. They all took chairs, with Leon and Chase nabbing one before someone else could.

The rest of the Vanguard started filtering in, he got a few waves and congratulations for being alive, and so on before the lights dimmed.

"Alright Vanguard," Marin started. "We've been pushing the Union back slowly, thanks to our victory in Chicago. In the last month and a half we've completed over 18 sorties into Union territory, with some victories this time. Today we're making another one. This facility is a research center, we're going to go in; steal what we can and blow it up on our way out. Our drones noticed they were working on some new toys, let's destroy them before they get put to use."

She described its layout, and the plan. It was simple, Gen:lock and Alpha(Jodie and Miranda) would attack and get rid of any Anti-air defenses as well as dealing with any resistance as they had infiltrators place demolition charges inside the facility as it went several stories down.

Then they'd bombard it from above and below.

Simple.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ready?" Leon barked into the comm, " are out of range." he got back from the infiltrators.

"Good, Gl, Alpha let's go." He shot at the spider tanks trying to break back into the facility. It was slow going, he was feeling bone deep exhausted after all the action. Maybe he would try to nap inside the GL network when they got back to transport. It had taken much longer than usual since they had found several hundred people being used as lab rats in the building. The constant attack on their evac wasn't helping anything. Union wanted this place, bad.

Just a little bit further. Then they'd be home. Then this not so simple mission could be put behind them.

They got out of range of the tanks with him helping Miranda and Jodie get into the transport. The last refugee transport lifted off just before they did. The plane lifted off and it was just Gen:Lock to get out of there when Leon saw a pylon looking device shoot into the ground. He stumbled back and then tried to surge forward when they lit up. His Holon locked up, every joint and part stopping and Leon felt red hot pain screech through the back of his head.

"What's going on!" Kazu demanded his mech having gone face first in the dirt.

Leon glanced out of the corner of his eye over at a Pylon next to him, it was just in reach. He could feel it in his bones, as tired as he was, that if he took care of it they could be free to move. He tried to force his arm to move. "C'mon…" He grit through his teeth. But his physical body wouldn't move.

"Cammie?" Chase demanded.

"I can't do anything!" Cammie yelled back desperation in her voice. Leon 'closed' his eyes and looked inward. Looking around he could see the whole team in varying states of being wrapped up by what looked like black thorns. They were all paralysed by the things.

Reaching up he tangled his hands in his hair, and then let go and looked down at his hands. He wasn't covered in thorns, but his whole body had the circuit pattern and he could move!

He ran over to Chase; ignoring how the world shifted around them so they were face to face. "Chase I need your help."

"How come you can move?" Chase demanded, Leon looked down at his arms.

Chase's eyes widened and Leon saw his body in the network relax as a hexagonal pattern covered his skin. "I can't- My holon won't move."

"Neither can mine, I need your help." He couldn't believe he was going to try this.

"How?"

So Leon explained. Chase grabbed his hands and they both nodded.

Leon felt like he was being ripped in two, but the more intense the feeling the more he could reach. Hands met metal, then slowly with Chase Pushing against him he pulled himself out of the Holon. And for a precious moment he felt the breeze on his face, dirt under his boots and he breathed out air.

He coughed suddenly, blood coating his throat. Pain screeching through him, red hot and spiking all over, every joint ached so deeply he worried his legs and arms were broken. He spat out the blood and slowly got to his feet. Barely focusing on the world around him except the Pylon that was less than two yards away. He stood and then stumbled, forced himself to stand again. Dragging his feet; one hand clenched around his stomach where the pain was the worst, Step by painful step he got closer. He could feel the pulse of the technology in the back of his brain. He stumbled again, and hit the ground hard. He was so close. He could just reach-

Boots crunched on the ground next to him and he looked up into a Union helmet the skull pattern against the red glass spelling his death. For a moment Leon could only narrow in on the helmet and his only thought was that he had failed. This was the end and he couldn't even save-

But then strong hands grabbed him and helped him up and helped him press his fingers against the pylon. "Well? do your thing." the voice told him distorted through the material.

"Turn off. Let them go." He breathed at the pylon and felt something reach for him and then…. The pylons shut off… Then one by one started to heat up. All the Holons immediately dropped and they shook off their paralysis.

"Time to go." the soldier nodded, Leon turned to the Holon. "I need to- Get back."

"Really!? You want back in that thing?" the other man snapped looking at Leon.

"Those are going to explode. Neither of us will survive unless I can get back into that thing." Leon pointed; he could feel the heat radiating off the machine with the whirr of mechanics overloading. It pounded against his senses. He-

The soldier made a disgusted noise, and started hauling him towards the Holon. Stopping so Leon could reach out and touch it. "I hope you're right."

Leon touched his Holon's foot and tried to find that connection again. He hacked, blood splattering against the metal.

"Oh for fucks sake." The soldier pulled off a glove and pressed his free hand into Leon's neck. A jolt of lightning flew through him and suddenly it was easy. He dropped back into his Holon, relief instantaneous.

Opening up his eyes he scooped up the soldier in his hands. "Need a ride?" he asked.

They gave him a thumbs up as he ran from the exploding machine. The soldier in his hands cheered and pulled off his helmet; it was a face he recognized. It was the one he'd learned from debrief what felt like years ago now. The man in his hands looked like he'd been through hell, a couple of cuts still oozed blood and a black eye. Robert Sinclair looked haggard but alive.

"Guys I-" He began then Leon's vision went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

eon woke up in his Holon, everything in his body felt like it was on fire.

"How're you feeling?" Cammie asked closing the screen in front of her and he realized she had synced to his network with her Ether avatar.

"Ugh." was all he felt like he needed to say. He could still feel the blood in his throat; his body felt worse than ever, though the pain from earlier was slowly dulling.

"You scared us! You just- passed out. I've never seen.. Well Chase doesn't pass out. But then he's the only other one in Holon and-" Cammie continued and Leon groaned again cutting her off.

"I think I'm dying." he meant it as a joke, but from the tired edge in his voice he realized… he really felt that way. He'd pushed his powers too hard and now he was going to die.

"Really?" Cammie crossed her arms at him.

"... I don't know. I'm very tired. And It hurts. " Leon grit his teeth against the pain and sat up inside the network. He could feel more than just his own pain; he could feel all of their Holons propped up outside the network, Caliban working on something, the technology around them. Something about him leaving his Holon forcibly had done something to his senses, sending them haywire.

Cammie looked down; pulling one leg up and propping her chin on her looked comical on the rabbit form but "What do you want to do about it?" she asked. The way she said it made him pause and stare at her.

Cammie grinned "We may have rescued someone that knew you. She's asking me to tell you you're a dumb- uh."

"Taller than Yaz or shorter than Kazu?" Leon interrupted and Cammie giggled at him.

"Yaz." Cammie replied, and Leon felt his chest warm.

"That would be Bailey; and the doctor of the family. I don't know what I want to do about it though." He asked reaching up to push his hair out of his face. It was getting too long, if he survived he'd get it trimmed.

"I think so; how do you feel about another download?" Cammie asked.


	6. Chapter 6

Chase was starting to get worried about Leon, he'd spent the first few days awake constantly surrounded by Dr. Jha and Dr. August (the sisters were real! Who would have thought?) and the one other actual medical professional that remembered how to deal with patients. (RTASA had a lot of Doctors but most of their doctorates were not medical or they were mostly scientific in nature.) And while he and the others wanted to see him. They kept their distance when Dr August explained that Leon was still in a delicate state.

Most of the brain damage had been reversed but it might take him a while to be walking without medical aid.

Chase just hoped Leon was going to survive this.

However a week later he found Dr August- Bailey- pacing outside a room. It wasn't her shared one with Leon, or the medical room Leon was being kept in. She saw his mixed avatar and stalked right towards him.

"Did you know Dr Weller asked me to help him with Gen: Lock?" She asked and Chase thought back, he did remember Weller looking for a human time ago, but apparently they'd never answered the doctors calls and Weller had forgotten about it. "Kinda? That was a years ago though."

"Yeah I got kidnapped a year ago." She rolled her eyes then looked him in the eye. "Would you mind if I joined Gen:Lock? As a medical researcher and doctor?"

Chase blinked and looked around, "I thought that was Dr. Jha's call not mine." Chase told her and she smiled, she looked a lot less severe when she did that. Though he could see where Leon got some of his traits. They might not have looked similar, what with Leon being tall and pale and kind of skinny. Dr. August was just as tall but she held more bulk on her body her skin was close to Yaz's in colour with freckles covering every inch. She had dark brown auburn hair that was pulled into a braid and mismatched blue-grey eyes hidden behind thin glasses.

"According to the ESU protocol, as the senior director on the gen:Lock research you get final say." She smirked at him.

Chase opened his mouth and then closed it, "Director?"

"You- ESU doesn't normally keep lab rats for long; Gen:Lock also needed someone that wasn't a researcher. You and Ms Madrani are Senior directors; and your recruits are the staff and have provisional roles aside from being pilots. So technically either you or Ms Madrani has to approve of my appointment as medical researcher on your team." Bailey explained crossing her arms and Chase could only stare.

"What about Leon?" he asked and she looked thoughtful, "Hm I think he's been designated a liason, something to do with training. Though he's been remarkably tight lipped as its classified to civilian doctors." She spat out the last part of her explanation.

He took a half step back and she waved it off, " Leon is very good at his job and I am very good at mine. I don't want on so I can snoop. I want on because it's an incredible opportunity to further my own research as well as contribute. Leon in this case is a nice neat little bonus."

Chase nodded "Alright, Welcome to the ESU, specifically welcome to Gen:Lock Dr. August." Bailey blinked at him and did a small shake of her head then squealed and reached forward to try and hug him. Her arms passed only partially through his avatar for a moment in a facsimile of a hug.

"Thank you! I'll get some stuff and store them on your ship so I can be ready to go whenever. Also I need to talk to ms MacCloud- You won't regret it!"

* * *

Chase went and broke the news to the team, "Smart." Kazu hummed as he ate. Out of all of them Kazu technically had the most medical knowledge, but knowing how to bandage a cut and how to set bones and deal with brain trauma were two different things.

"So how is Leon? We have not seen him in days." Val/entina asked leaning back in her seat. Yaz shook her head "I saw him yesterday, he's been discharged from the medical wing."

They turned in unison to her and Yaz's shoulders went up defensively "What? I assumed he would be telling you this."

"Well he hasn't, I think I'll go check on him." Chase waved as he mixed out of the lunch room and down the hallway. He could always tell where Leon was, it was like a pulling feeling if he concentrated hard enough. He figured it was because his body was mechanical now; he found Leon reading in a small quiet space away from everything else. The older man was in a simple long sleeved shirt and pants, he looked tired and like there was a weight resting on his shoulders.

"There you are, how're you doing?" Chase asked and Leon looked up from his book. As long as he's known Leon he'd never seen quite the panicked look in his eyes before it was squashed and Leon's eyes dulled. Chase could see the pulse of Leon's power in the parts of his skin that was visible underneath the clothes he wore.

"Bad time?"

"No- it's- I just needed some quiet. It's been loud the last few days." Leon reached up to his ears before he shook his head closing his eyes and the circuit pattern abated, but returned full force when he reopened them. Chase frowned, but he could feel it, something was coming off Leon. It felt… good- like waiting for his mom's cookies to be done. Chase took a step back and Leon got up.

"Sorry, I'll leave you alone." He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room and Chase turned his own skin taking on a hexagonal pattern. The feeling disappeared and Chase scowled at the empty space before he mixed out of the room and into the hallway.

"Hey! Leon. You okay there?"

Leon paused in the hallway and turned around, "Not really, It's fine. I'll get over it I just need a day or two." Chase frowned and walked towards him.

"It's not fine, you've never been this cagey before-"

"Cagey?" he snapped back.

"Weird about people. You like people!" Chase explained, "but you're avoiding us. Why?"

"I like people that's not the problem;" Leon began reaching up to rub at the back of his neck and Chase narrowed the space between them. "Then what is it? We can't help if you won't tell us." He grabbed at Leon and he saw Leon's eyes flash for a second. A wave of cool energy pulsed through him and both men hit the ground.

The floor felt blessedly solid and Chase looked down at his hands and then up at Leon. Leon looked- better, less actually, though he was two seconds from a panic attack.

"Leon, what happened?"

"I- I don't know." Leon replied tangling both hands in his hair, Chase stood and then stumbled, the floor felt weird. He sat down next to Leon as the older man screwed his eyes shut; Chase breathed out a sigh.

"Seriously, what's really wrong?"

"I- It's so loud, everything. Before I could turn it off, or ignore it. Now It's like the walls are screaming, but it's less screaming more a feeling?" Leon pulled his legs up under him crossing his arms over his knees. "The last time this happened I nearly killed Bailey, what if I just nearly killed you! I- don't want to kill anyone I care about with this bullshit." Leon looked shocked he'd even said as much as he had and then looked at the ground.

"Yeah but you didn't; I'm right here. Bailey's alive."Chase gestured in the direction he figured the woman was. "I've been there, super strength is great until you realize you're touching the world like it's made of wet tissue. Being scared means you-" Chase had to pause to find the right words.

"It means your human right? You won't kill anyone. You haven't before, you won't now. You just might break a few mugs on the way." He nudged Leon watching the older man.

Leon sighed and dropped his head so his forehead rested on his knees.

After a bit Chase stood holding a hand out, "C'mon let's go see what you did to me." Leon took the hand and then stumbled into Chase for a second. "Sorry. Walking Is tiring, everything is exhausting." Leon sighed and Chase snorted.

"Don't I know that feeling."

* * *

"Fascinating, you're physically there." Bailey hummed as Chase and Leon explained what had happened. She had immediately done several scans of both men, "But I'm getting readings like I have screens where you are and it's just… this is awesome. Leon you have to do more weird shit with your powers." She turned to her brother and Leon sighed, he'd been trying not to fall asleep at the table.

"Sooo I should technically be able to eat?" Chase asked and he looked way to excited at the thought. Bailey nodded and he turned to the others. "Ok I call the last piece of Wu's cake."He dashed off before Kazu and Cammie shouted following and Leon put his head on the table.

"I'm proud of you." Bailey told him and he hummed in response, eyelids feeling heavy. He fell asleep at the table while Chase and the others fought over cake


	7. Chapter 7

Once Leon was able to last more than a few hours; he was put to work helping Sinclair learn his own other man having been checked out and by the time Leon was healthy again, Sinclair was ready for training. He usually helped by standing on one of the other's shoulders while the others worked inside their own Holons. His strider left back at the Anvil, but he was far from useless.

Cammie and Bailey had also practically drooled at the chance to understand his abilities to further Gen:Lock. Especially when he had explained how he had used them the second time he'd uploaded himself after Chicago; when he'd been sure he'd been dreaming.

But back to the matter at hand.

Sinclair was having trouble adjusting to his Holon. It frustrated Leon, frustrated everyone, that nothing seemed to work. Sinclair was just not getting it; something felt off in how he interacted with the world. It was like when Cammie had trouble walking, but on a fundamentally different level. Sinclair had trouble just being in the Holon.

So he did what he hadn't had a chance to do in years. Talk it out with Bailey, normally he had to hedge because of how classified a lot of the work he'd done was. Now since she had been Hired to continue the gen:Lock research with the ESU she had almost the same clearance as he did.

"So why not go into your mecha and kick his butt? I haven't seen you in it uh, never but it's cool looking so I guess..." Bailey asked and putting down two cups with hot chocolate in it. He hadn't seen the new 'look' Migas and Cammie were putting together. He almost didn't want to.

He took a sip and nearly choked on one of the mini-marshmellows in it. "You know Hailey is the only one who likes these things right?" He coughed peering into the cup. She snorted and sat down across the table from him. It was late night and they were in the lunch room of RTASA.

"Don't change the subject. What's wrong with your Holon?" She asked taking her own sip and covering her own face swallowing the sweet cardboardy bits of sugar; she grabbed a spoon to fish them out. Neither of them had much of a sweet tooth.

"Nothing's wrong with the Holon." Leon frowned "It's fine." He could tell from here.

"It can't be _you _then, since after everything... " she smirked at him; He took the spoon as she offered and began fishing out the marshmallows on his own, going quiet to focus as fully as he could on the task and not answering her unspoken question.

Bailey just waited, taking a sip of her now de-marshmellowed drink.

"Ok, come on." Bailey put down her drink; unable to wait long, and reached over to flick him in the forehead. A motion he automatically dodged. She narrowed her eyes and he saw them invert the mismatched colours swapping places with her scalera for a second and he had to dodge the spoon thrown telekinetically at him.

"You. are. being. dumb. Give it a shot. After all if you can hack me a job with RTASA by ASKING on accident. I think you're got the chops to uh mix in with your holon again."

"I fixed it after we realized what I'd done." Leon defended and Bailey merely hummed. "Uh hunh and the ESU job?"

"That wasn't me!" They laughed at each other. Their conversation turning to less dangerous topics.

* * *

Leon couldn't sleep, after his talk with Bailey, the last few days played in his head. She had been right; he wasn't pushing himself. Leon remembered his first few times piloting the strider. Had he not pushed himself to learn the systems; then he wouldn't be the strider pilot, now Holon pilot, he was.

Mind made up he got out of bed and marched straight for the hangar bay. He kept his nerve up until he stood in front of his Holon. His Jaw dropped; before it had been simpler, less boxy than the vanguard armor, but still armored. Still useable.

This was very different.

They had kept with a slimmer look; padding the joints and the outside edges of his armor with another layer that went from shoulder to wrist. The helmet was rounded with what looked like a bandana wrapped several times around the face leaving the eyes free. He had what looked slim plates of armor that criss crossed protecting his midsection, legs, anything not covered by the heavier plating. It pouches on either side of his hips and attached to his wrists were what looked like small sleek pistols. One was gold and black, the other was black and green. Each had different details etched into the sides. He stared taking in all the details. It even had his strider decal placed on the left side of the chest, and shoulder.

"Like it man?" Migas asked and Leon gestured at the Holon speechless. Though why Migas was awake at such an ungodly hour he had no idea. Or maybe he did and neither of them really liked talking about it.

"Cammie and I came up with it. I remembered our old DND game and I thought you might enjoy the look. I even made sure you had the bags of holding, though it's less bags of holding and more it being you know dakka dakka." Migas mimed shooting a gun and Leon peeled his eyes away from the Holon to look a the mechanic.

Leon looked at Migas and gestured at the wrists "You even have the...pew." he gestured lamely, the lack of sleep probably wasn't helping but he was honestly speechless. Migas pulled up a screen and pushed it at him, it detailed the changes to the Holon. Including turrets conveniently located like a Strider, on the sides and hidden by the heavier plating.

"You want to download to it? I can get the pod ready." Migas gestured where the pod was stored next to the Holon.

"Uh, I was thinking of." Leon waved his hand and Migas made a small oh with his mouth. "Gotcha dude, c'mon." Migas brought him to the lift where he had them brought up to where the cyberdome was.

Leon placed his hands against the Holon.

He hesitated; looking at Migas who was pointedly looking away whistling next to him. "Really?"

"What you want privacy or something?" Migas asked with a knowing smile.

Leon rolled his eyes and then pitched sideways as he felt a pull from the machine. He put his arms out to catch himself on.. The railing? He looked down and over at Migas from the Holon's eyes.

Migas started cackling, falling over and rolling on the platform he was laughing so hard. "You- just gah!" He mimed what he meant flailing his arms before he was laughing again.

" Well I'm glad one of us is laughing." Leon pouted.

* * *

"Ugh this isn't working out." Sinclar snapped at Yasamin who propped her hands on her hips. The others looked at each other; They were all getting to the end of their individual ropes with Sinclair. The ranger was stubborn and didn't really listen to them. Those traits had given him an edge in Union territory but here they grated.

"Maybe I should just-" He gestured at the area around them, as if to say he should just leave.

"Hold on." Leon walked out of the hangar crossing his arms. He couldn't help the shit eating grin on the inside. He was never getting over how amazing the design looked. How awesome he felt having his own custom Holon.

"Why don't we do a round of capture the flag. You vs me." Leon told him slyly with a wink to Chase who narrowed his eyes at him. He could feel the rest of the team's scrutiny.

"What're you planning Leon?" Chase asked; suspicious.

"Just a game; something to break up training. " Leon waved at Chase. Sinclair crossed his arms but then shrugged, his eyes rolling.

"Fine, it can't be worse than what we're already doing." He told them.

"Come on Goony. Are you going to let a Strider Pilot kick your ass? Give it one try." Leon taunted holding up a finger. He hoped he had read Sinclair right-

Sinclair growled took off and Leon shot with the turret on his shoulder; it hit the other Holon square in the chest. Sinclair growled reset, the turret disappearing into his armor; and tried again.

"You can always use the structures as coverage." he offered gesturing at them languidly, after Sinclair's third try at running straight at him.

They started again. And again. And again.

Leon shot and hit again, Sinclair was getting more creative and Leon had broken lout the pistols. Sinclair growled ferally and before hitting the restart line threw himself back at Leon. Leon kept shooting just close enough until He saw what he was looking for. A spark on Sinclair's amor.

Leon smirked, aimed for the center of Sinclair's chest.

Sinclair sparked further and just as Leon had him in his sights he literally turned into a bolt a lightning and raced past Leon. Grabbing the Flag Sinclair stabbed it in the ground at Leon's feet.

"Thought so. How do you feel?" Leon propped his arms on his hips languidly.

"Better- I mean I feel more uh- Wait you wanted that?" Sinclair shoved his face in Leon's squinting at the older pilot. Leon took a step back for some space.

Leon crossed his arms, "I made an educated guess, you spark. All the time. I figured you needed a new perspective. Being in a Holon shouldn't stop you from being all that you could be."

"I do not get it." Kazu told the others and Cammie clapped her hands together. 'I think i do. Leon do you mind?"

Leon shook his head and she continued. "Sinclair didn't totally feel comfortable until he could use his abilities. I mean you see him in the mess. He's not exactly subtle." Cammie explained gesturing at where Sinclair was still sparking a little.

"What does that have to do with it?" Kazu frowned but he could see the gears working. Leon suspected that even with how rare people with powers were it was an even more taboo topic in Japan than he'd suspected originally.

"Kazu, imagine not having a pinky finger." Kazu looked at his hand and folded his fingers till his pinky was the only one standing out. "You don't realize that you don't use it that much but when it's gone you notice. It makes the hand as a whole more, confident? Centered? I think I lost the analogy." Leon offered trying to make it easier to understand, one hand coming up to tap at his chin.

"You're certainly more open about it." Val/entina hummed and Leon nodded as they walked their holons to the Hangar. He kneeled down and waited for them to walk out of the Renegade; where their pods stayed while at RTASA.

"You're right; Not like I could hide it anymore. I mean last week alone was crazy." he got a few laughs, and smiles. Kazu looked more thoughtful but nodded. Leon didn't blame him, it would be a lot to learn for anyone.

Sinclair looked thoughtful too but for different reasons, "So why push me to use mine?"

"You looked like you needed it.' Leon explained, "Like how Cammie needed new legs. You needed to know you could."

Chase put a hand on Sinclair's shoulder it phased a little through. "Remember what he told Kazu? You needed that extra finger, or you were off center."


	8. Chapter 8

A few days later they were called for a mission; another facility had been uncovered like the first. Another lab where people were being experimented on with the new technology. The plan was Gen:Lock would wait until the all clear; since they were sending in an infiltration team first. They would find the hostages and then Gen:Lock and the Strider teams would go in and cause a mess. Hopefully the infiltration teams would be able to deal with anything that would lock up the tankier machines.

They split up. Which meant Leon and Sinclair were with the striders. The rest of the Gen:Lock team took to the other side of the facility. All waiting for the go ahead, which meant they were going stir crazy.

"Soooo, you rejoining the vanguard?" Jodie asked from his strider where they were stationed.

"I thought I was vanguard." he hummed scanning the horizon. Was he Vanguard? He lived with the rest of the Gen:lock squad half at RTASA and half at the Anvil in between missions.

"No seriously. Since being shoved in that machine you've been basically gone man." Jodie complained watching the game on one of his monitors. It had been hours at this pount.

"Jodie it's not like he can leave it for long." Miranda sniped at him watching readouts on her Strider. Leon looked down at the two striders, at his team. It made him feel warm and fuzzy that they cared that he might come back. Though it was worrying that they seemed to be at odds, again.

"I know! I just- ugh. I miss working with you Leon. That's all." Jodie crossed his arms. Leon looked over to the facility in the distance again. "Yeah I know; so do I."

"So, why are we waiting?" Sinclair asked looking over at Leon from his position sitting on the knee of his Holon; cutting into the banter between striders. It was hard being the odd man out, Leon could sympathise.

"Because….." Leon told him squinting as he scanned the tree's again. He could have sworn he saw-

He saw it again out of the corner of his eye and cursed, "Command I found a Pylon." He called "And active. Val/entina do you see these things?" They should have from their sniper perch. They should have been out of range, outside their holon.

Silence on the comms.

"I don't like this." Sinclair uttered from his Holon. Leon could see sparks travelling up his arms in response. Neither of them had great memories the last time they saw a Pylon.

"Wraith? Chaser? Shogun? Trixx? Huma?" Leon called; biting his lip as he did so.

No answer.

"Where are you guys?" Leon closed his eyes, tentatively he listened for the other Holons. It should have been easy to feel them, he had been near them all week. But he felt nothing; like he hit a… wall. Could they act like the nanotech and block signals going out?

"Command those pylons are active." Leon said. Still they had static. He looked down at his team and when they had no response he stepped out of his Holon. The others joined him on the ground

"I can't hear anything from Command, or the others. Do we go in and try to figure out what's going on?" Leon asked as the others looked between each other.

"I think we do, let me go get us something to use." Sinclair trotted off to their transport to grab them both guns. He came back with pistols for both of them, with ammo and handed one to Leon.

"Why give Leon a gun he-oh ooOOOoOOOOOHHHHHH:" Jodie started to Yell and Leon's palm hit his face. "Where you not paying attention earlier?" Leon asked with a sigh. Miranda snorted covering her mouth as if to prevent laughter.

* * *

The four of them headed for the facility sans Holons or Striders. Leon wasn't worried, Sinclair had survived months in the Union on his own, and he knew Jodie was former intelligence. The reason his teammate was a Strider was a lifelong dream; Otherwise Jodie would still be doing jane bond style missions for a living.(Or at least that's what Jodie said, he assumed there was more paperwork.)

"Shit." Jodie cursed under his breath as they reached the door for the Union base. It was locked, a hand scanner the only way to open it. "I got this." Leon told him and reached forward. **Open. ****_Please?_**He asked and the door slid open. Jodie whistled appreciatively, and gave him a thumbs up.

They held their collective breaths passing through the massive facility. They had only scratched the surface before they all had to duck into a closet to reset. "Ok this is going to take forever." Jodie whispered dragging his hands down his face.

"OK so we need to find their holons. Room by room is too slow. What about a command center?" Miranda asked "We might be able to turn off those things there."

"Yeah but where is that?" Sinclair asked and they all turned to Leon.

"Oh right." He pressed his hand against the facility wall and asked

In his mind's eye: The facility had a basement that was blocked off by _something _that Leon couldn't penetrate. He asked where the command center was and found them a route through the facility.

"Ok so; good news, there's a command center in the center of the building. Bad news? There's too many people between us and it, and I'm pretty sure the other infiltration teams were caught or killed." Leon told them and Miranda nodded and pulled a little device from her pocket.

"Let's go start a fire." She offered and Leon nodded with a smirk , "Jodie, you and Sinclair head for the command center." he pulled up a screen and transmitted the information into a sort of map for them to follow.

"Miranda and I will head outside, and start causing a fuss with the striders. When those pylons go down I'll go grab our Holons and we can get these people out of here." Leon explained and Jodie and Sinclair looked at each other.

"I hate this plan." Jodie sighed, but the way his shoulders drooped meant he would do it.

"I hate that I agree with you." Sinclair traded looks with Jodie.


	9. Chapter 9

Leon's Strider shook as he and Miranda started raising hell, they'd found one of the other strider team's mech's. The pilot's either dead or gone.

"_ At the command center; what am I looking for Leon?" _Jodie asked and Leon turned his mech to shoot at a group of Union soldiers. "Pylon controls, or Nano controls!" he snapped back into the comms. They worked as long as they were inside the base, but outside communications were still down.

Miranda boosted her Strider over towards the gate and Leon followed watching her Six.

"_ Got it! Get the Holons. I also found the refugee's they haven't been processed yet. And GL is on their way. " _Jodie told them, Leon and Miranda backed up till they were at the entrance they had taken into the building before Miranda pulled out a small trigger and pressed the button. Explosions tore into the side of the facility distracting the Union soldiers. He hopped out of the Strider to grab his Holon. They'd snuck up as close as they dared to the facility in their transport earlier.

Sliding into his Holon was second nature at this point, and he ran back in time to stomp on a tank trying to box Miranda in a corner. He spun his pistol's coming to play as he aimed and fired at several groups of people running out of the facility.

"_ There's a transmitter on the top of the facility!" _Sinclair explained as Leon saw a blue bolt dash out of the facility. He skated over so Jodie had some cover as he ran for the spare Strider. They loaded up and Leon grabbed Jodie's strider. Jodie saw what Leon wanted and aimed his rockets at the transmitter, it groans and bends as Yasamin swoops in and blasts it with her wrist lasers; knocking it the rest of the way as Leon gently puts down Jodie,

"_ GL- Any squads- please respond." _They all heard the moment the transmitter went down.

"_ There is a bogey headed your way north-by northeast. Vanguard Get those Refugee's loaded on the transports. Gen: Lock do what you can to keep that thing off the people." _Col Marin snapped into the comms.

"Affirmative Command." Chase replied and they looked at the black blur heading their way. "Aw Fuck." Cammie swore.

* * *

Leon crashed into a wall, and stood slowly, he was getting to his limit. The others were fighting in sync as best they could. But a second Nemesis drone had shown up and they were all getting to their limits. And they were drones, the original mech had spoken during all their encounters and with some clever Hacking from Cammie they noticed that they were being rc'd by something.

"We need to do something different." Yasamin breathed hard getting up. She was down to one wing. But they almost had everyone from the facility on the transport; if they held out for a few more minutes they could get everyone out.

Leon saw a familiar face helping people board. He skated in front of the last group of people shooting at the Union forces trying to stop the now refugee's board. Reloading his pistols he saw a familiar woman stop and stare before she turned to help the last few people board.

"You're right." Sinclair nodded "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he turned to Leon. Leon turned back to the Nemesis fight torn for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and held out a hand for Sinclair "No, but I can be." Leon replied reaching out. Sinclair grabbed Leon's hands and pulled him close both of their hands connecting.

Outside the Holons sprung into action, Leon jumped up onto a crate and then launched down onto the drone. Sinclair came up and in with an uppercut, and they both shouted as lightning surrounded both their fists and slammed into the drone. The shock from both Holons sent the drone into the ground a melted husk.

Sinclair and Leon, while not looking at each other, fist bumped.

They skated towards the second drone, Leon already reaching out mentally to slow it down as Sinclair's Holon turned blue and bolted forward with a shout. They hadn't realized he could do that, still the two of them charged forward. The second Drone turned and went flying towards Leon it's thrusters at full power. It grabbed him dragging him away from the others all four arms holding him in place before nano turned into a fifth and sixth arm and began to tear at his Holon. Two of the arms wrenching at his head.

The last thing he saw was a fireball slamming into the drone's back as his vision was covered in thorns.


	10. Chapter 10

Leon woke up in his Holon with a start..There were people sitting all over his body. "One second!" Migas shouted at him and Leon held still. He saw the mechanic pull away from his throat and turn off a welder.

"There. Download out now. Didn't want you doing that before I had your throat taken care of." the mechanic explained as he held out a hand.

Leon pulled himself out of the Holon and reached up to his throat; taking a deep breath hurt but he was alive.

"I'm so glad you're not dead." Hailey reached over and pulled him into a tight hug; Leon smacked her as he found his ribs creaking. The shorter of the two twins had her hair buzzed on one side, and stood shorter than Kazu's eyeline. But she was here and alive and well, and he couldn't be anything but grateful.

"Right sorry." she let go and he rubbed at his neck. One hand resting on it as he looked up.

"What happened?"

"So the second drone? Tried to rip your head off. I think Cammie got force downloaded out of her Holon trying to kill it. The others were trying to get her Holon out and- we saw an explosion? Then just you and Sinclair dragging you out of there." Migas explained as he went back to doing basic maintenance on the Holon, especially careful of his neck.

"Also your sister is terrifying. She took on a Union tank with her bare hands." Jodie added quickly.

"I'm not that scary." she snorted in response.

"Hailey you shoot fireballs out of your hands when you're pissed." Leon deadpanned and Hailey reached over and gave him a noogie. He smacked at her arms again and she released him so he could fix his hair.

"So what now?" Leon asked hand dropping to rest on his throat, it was the oddest feeling, it felt numb but also like he had a cut there. He supposed it was from taking damage that normally would have killed him.

"We're falling back to meet up with the rest of Vanguard forces. After that we're not sure. The base didn't go up and we can't risk those pylons dropping birds from the sky." Miranda explained from the floor. He leaned over the edge of his Holon's chest and then slid down to meet her. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in a shiny part of his armor. He had a new, barely healed, scar across his throat.

* * *

"_ That is a predicament. I will not allow the Union to take the Gen:Lock program, however we need to get the refugee's out. Lt how confident if we left you and Ranger Sinclair there to track down the GL team could you do it with minimal Vanguard aid?" _

Leon looked at Sinclair, he might be able to figure out where their holons or the renegade was through the network. Sinclair nodded at him, "We feel confident we can find them, but rescue them might be more difficult." He replied.

"_ Do that, we'll leave you with a transport until we can return with reinforcements. I don't like it but we do not have the forces in the area to do more." _ Col Marin frowned,the nemesis drones had done a lot of damage to their small force. " _Our priority has to be the refugees, we have no way of keeping them safe and going Gen:Lock at the same time." _Marin looked frustrated.

* * *

Leon and Sinclair took to the Holons, originally Sinclair had been uploaded from a different location, since there wasn't enough up-time to cover splitting up and hitting the Union facility. Thankfully it meant he hadn't been taken with the others. The Polity aid was just a small enough transport to house a strider and a GL pod. Their Holons stayed outside.

It took hours of attempting to connect with the others, slowly they narrowed down a small area to where the Renegade might be.

The biggest breakthrough was Sinclair seeing from Chase's Holon's eyes. He had just a glance but after pouring over the image they'd managed to connect it to one from the Anvil's own reconnaissance and just in the furthest edge they saw a little hint of dark blue from Sinclair's own Holon. After that they had a couple miles that they couldn't see but that was because something was blocking them.

They got out of their holons for a rest and a chance to make a game plan.

"So I'm pretty sure this is a trap." Leon looked down at their makeshift map.

"Oh absolutely." Sinclair frowned, at their map. "We need to find the Renegade first, and on foot. You can see how happy I am about that." The sheer amount of miles would take them all day to get through on foot.

"Agreed." Leon nodded then glanced over at the Strider next to them. " Though How do you feel about Striders?"


	11. Chapter 11

Leon used the boosters on the Strider to clear a stream and landed easily checking their rear in the mirror. "Wow, you're born to drive one of these things." Sinclair whistled as Leon pulled back on the controls to ease into the next jump.

"No I put in years of work." He corrected and he saw Sinclair smile out of the corner of his eye. "So humble." the ranger hummed.

Still it felt good to be in an actual pilots seat. They'd been traveling for a while, bit by bit narrowing down the Renegade's actual location. The strider made its way through a clump of trees and they were greeted with the decal on the side of the plane. He had to pull back quickly to prevent them slamming into the machine.

"Alright this is where we get out." Leon said and they both clambered out of the Strider. He patted it affectionately as he let Sinclair take the lead. The ranger was more used to sneaking than he was.

They entered a dark Renegade, he could swear he could see bodies inside the pods. The darkened interior not boding well for the Gen:Lock squad.

He saw movement from the corner of his eye and Sinclair charged forward and tackled someone while Leon ducked under a fist. He came up headbutting his assailant. Leon was then grabbed and thrown into a wall; dropping his gun in the process.

"Whoa!"

He grit his teeth and for a moment saw Sinclair and someone dancing around each other, though it was impossible to tell who in the dark. Sinclair disappeared in a bolt of lightning before reappearing behind the person, his armor lighting up. A metal fist went flying at his face; He ducked and punched their stomach his undersuit whining as it made his next hit stronger.

"Wait! Leon!?" Yasamin stopped fighting she ducked Sinclair's blow with a familiar bloom of yellow surrounding her as her suit went to work. Leon froze mid punch, wait if that was Yaz-

"YAAAA!"

"KAZU NO IT'S-" Yaz began reaching out.

"Leon-Sensei?" Kazu gaped and Leon breathed a sigh of relief the fist inches from his face. "Yeah it's me." his voice cracked.

The lights blinked on and he heard a screaming from the cockpit "AHHHH"

"CAMMIE!" Yaz shouted and the cargo bay went deadly silent. Cammie opened her eyes, Caliban just standing over her shoulder peering into the darkness. Leon blinked away the spots from the light. Sinclair shook his head as well as-

"VALENTINA" Leon shouted and Val/entina stopped the butt of their gun inches from Sinclair's head as they too blinked the spots from their vision. Apparently Cammie's attack had not been well thought out.

"Please tell me Chase isn't going to reach a hand in here and do something." Sinclair held out his hands; waiting for the inevitable.

The others all looked down at the ground, collectively sheepish.

"So your holons are all being piloted by something, do you know what?" Leon asked Cammie who shrugged, answered

"It's like someone thought of the device, it makes no sense and if I'm saying that?" Cammie growled at the image they had projected. It was of their Holons moments before the team had been downloaded out of them. Thorns wrapped around their necks.

"Wow I almost have no idea how that feels. At all. Nope. Not me." Leon snarked. Cammie snorted out a laugh.

"If I could do what you do; I wouldn't be so helpless trying to get our Holons back." Cammie turned back to the feed scowling. Leon raised an eyebrow "But you could if we were connected. Right?" he offered and Cammie's eyes widened "Wait what!?"

"Yeah when Leon and I connected we had a little of the other's ability. Why not?" Sinclair explained. The rest of the team turned to him and he threw up his hands "What?"

"The problem is, is we cannot download into our Holons as long as those things are on there. So we cannot aid." Yaz cut in trying to bring the subject back around to the matter at hand.

"I don't know what happened but Caliban downloaded us back into our bodies, before we were at critical uptime. They knew we were coming, and had plans for us." Val/entina finished and leon and Sinclair looked at each other. "What if you used our Holons?"

"That won't work, other than the fact we cannae download like Leon does. When you first download into your Holon it remembers your brain's patterns, Leon might be able to override it but I don't know." Cammie offered.

They all went quiet, staring at the feeds in front of them.

"So I have a theory." Sinclair looked at Leon. Cutting into the silence. "I think it's another technopath. Those thorns just happen to appear when some piece of tech works like it was just thought up? Taking over multiple Holons? I don't know if Leon could but, honestly? ehhh" Sinclair gestured vaguely at the image. They all sobered at the thought until Kazu held up his hand.

"Why not fight fire with fire?" he asked pointing at the thorns then at Leon.


	12. Chapter 12

Fighting Holons being piloted by another technopath was interesting. Leon spent more time transferring from Holon to Holon than inside his strider.

The first fight was to get Cammie's mech away from the others; she was the next most agile compared to Yaz and Chase. And as their resident Hacker she would understand how to get the others back faster. Sinclair and Leon double teamed it with Leon in his Strider instead of his Holon. Sinclair busy keeping the other Holon's at bay, his lightning, and with help from the others, it gave him an edge as he zipped circles around the machines.

Leon blasted at the bunny shaped Holon as it ran for him. Since Sinclair was purposefully ignoring it. The mech hit the ground and whoever was piloting it was having a hell of a time with the modifications Cammie had placed on the legs. Leon Boosted to stand on top of her chest and then popped out of the top of his Strider. He closed his eyes and jumped, pulling himself into the Holon easily this time.

"Cammie? I'm i-i-in." He sat up, pushing off his Strider and nearly tripping on her legs. He reached up using her Holon's arms to rip the thorns from its neck. A green circuit pattern appearing over its hands as he dissipated the other technopath's control.

"I got it!" She downloaded into the mech and took over. Leon gratefully backed off so she could handle the mech.

They reached out and he hooked his hands in hers, and then gulped as she grinned maniacally.

Yaz's mech was next, whoever was controlling it had managed to fix at least the wings, though it was a patch job that would make Migas cry. Cammie's drones harassed her out of the air as Sinclair turned into lightning and appeared on the yellow Holon's back. He shoved her into Cammie's arms as the hacker delightfully tore off the thorns she yelled.

"Yaz now!"

Kazu was next, and possibly easiest. Yaz landed on his back, in control of her own Holon again. Leon let go of Cammie to move to Yaz, he moved fluidly on the network and grabbed Yaz's hand. She nodded at him as she wrapped her legs around Kazu's waist wings flaring out and ripped the thorns off.

Val/entina was next but also almost as Easy as taking over Kazu's; whoever was controlling it wasn't using the camo; so all they had to do was get Cammie and Kazu to dogpile her while Yaz and Sinclair harried Chase. Leon back with Cammie so he could get rid of the thorns again.

Then there was one.

They cornered Chase; Sinclair wrapping himself on the other man's back. Chase tried to lift off for Kazu and Cammie to jump at him grabbing his legs. Yaz flew up and over pushing down and Val/entina using their grapple to wrap around Chase's arms.

Inside the GL network it looked like thorns created a barrier around Chase and Leon immediately were everywhere, whoever the other technopath was he didn't want to give up his prize.

"Leon there!" Cammie shouted pointing at an opening in the thorns. Hev surged forward, getting most of his torso through before pain hit his system so hard he couldn't move. He reached out and grabbed at Chase's shoulder.

"Guys?" Chase looked almost blind where the thorns covered his eyes causing his image to glitch a little and Leon gripped tighter. Outside the network they pulled away from Chase as he went deadly still.

"Little help here?" Leon asked and Chase's eyes widened; he clenched his fists as the hexagonal pattern appeared burning the thorns away. Leon nearly fell out of the network as the thorns disappeared from the network. They all breathed a sigh of relief as Chase reached over and pulled Leon into a hug.

"Thanks."


	13. Chapter 13

They gathered around in the Renegade.

"So we need to take care of this guy. I don't know about you but he's just going to keep dogging us. He's in that base, somewhere." Chase rubbed at his shoulder. He had been coated in the thorns the longest and was probably the most vulnerable if they attacked it again.

"We need to infiltrate this facility, again, and find this person. If it's anything like the last one we found they'll have contingencies against Gen:Lock. As well as our weapons and gear." Kazu surmised.

_" _What if we didn't use just our weapons?" Val/Entina asked.

"What do you mean?" Yaz asked.

"We have three who are weapons without even needing them. Why not use that to our advantage." Val/Entina explained.

"Oh yeah! Like the time you made Chase solid!" Cammie nudged Chase's hologram and the pilot laughed. Though Leon caught on to What Cammie was saying and held out a hand. Chase put his hand in Leon's and both men felt a jolt of power flow from one to the other. Chase let go as if he'd been shocked and rapped his knuckles against the table with a smile.

"We could do that- We're all powerful people with abilities no one else has. Even if they aren't weird like technopathy or lighting. We go in stop him, leave and raise hell on the Union." Chase looked from face to face punching his fists together. The others looked ready to fight both in and out of their Holons.

"Simple! But effective." Caliban remarked and Leon and Sinclair looked at the robot. Then at the others then back to Caliban.

"Is that Weller's voice?" Leon asked at the same time Sinclair went "It Talks!"

"Yeah? So?" Kazu asked and Leon ran a hand through his hair. At the same time Sinclair smacked himself on the face. "Did you guys ever plan on telling us about Caliban?" Leon groaned and then followed Sinclair's lead covering his face with his free hand. He loved working with the Gen:Lock team but sometimes it was a bit much.

"Right so how are we going to do this?" Yaz asked, and Chase and Leon looked at each other.

They had a plan.


	14. Chapter 14

They split into two groups, Cammie, Leon and Val/Entina heading for the basement. While Chase, sinclair, Kazu and Yaz went outside to start causing mayhem with the machines they had. Though Leon winced at the thought of Kazu driving his strider it was the next best thing, and the most like a tank. Once their infiltration team got as far as the basement they'd leave for the Holons. Though coming and going was made easier by the giant smoking hole in the building distracting most of what remained of the Union soldiers trying to put out the fires started by Miranda's explosives.

They arrived at an innocuous looking door where both Leon's senses and Cammie's tracker could go no further. They looked at the door and opened it to a seething mass of Nano-tech. All of them bolted halfway down the hall before they realized it wasn't moving. "Well, this is a predicament. How do we deal with this?" Val/entina asked and Cammie typed furiously into her screen.

"Well the signal is doing nothing. Either we find another way down-"

"There isn't one." Leon interrupted.

"Or we figure out how to get in there." Cammie finished.

Leon walked up to the Nano and closed his eyes, reaching out, ignoring the warning cries from both Cammie and Val/entina he stuck his hand in.

The nano buzzed around his hand but then parted. Leon looked over at the others and caught a glimpse of himself. The circuit pattern covered his whole body and the light green shone from his pupils for a second before extinguishing. He blinked it away and looked back at them. "I think I can get in there?"

Val/entina nodded and handed him the device they were carrying. "Be safe." She told him and Cammie smacked his arm. "Don't die, we'll see you out there." She pointed and Leon nodded.

He turned back to the hallway of Nano, and walked through.

* * *

Leon snuck through the halls looking for the technopath. It was deserted down here other than the nano that weaved in and out of the halls. The others were raising hell outside; It was almost scary to look at how much their time in the Holon's translated out of the Holons. But also to how good a team they were when they all had a shared goal.

He stepped into a room where he could feel something screaming. It was the first thing he could feel other than the buzz of Nano, and the covered his mouth with a hand. In the center of the room there was a.. Person. Or what remained of one.

They were connected with thousands of wires, tubes and other electronics merging with their body, very little of the human flesh remained. Viney thorns sprouted from where the technology touched the ground weaving up and into the facility. He'd found what he came for.

-_ You see before you the epitome of what we can be. - _

Leon almost stepped back and out of the room, it was a supreme act of will that had him move forward towards the … swallowed down the nausea and took another step. He couldn't even call it human anymore. This was the other technopath, there was no doubt.

"You look like shit man." He remarked instead of acknowledging what the man had said.

-_ The Union will give us the means to become gods. But you squander your power making … friends.- _

"Sure? Insulting me does exactly what?" Leon snorted as casually as he could manage. He began to climb over the tech, using his own power to keep the wires off him. Both men shone like beacons in the room as the thorns; They reached out trying to embed into him like the base had before. To drain him and take his power. Like his nightmares.

-_ You would let yourself be trapped by your flesh. That is what makes you and makes Gen:Lock weak. You could be technology incarnate. But you choose weakness.- _

"It's weak to be human? It's weak to want connection?" Leon stumbled and caught himself. He pulled his hand away suddenly from the guy's chest as if burned. Now that he was at eye level he could see the damage this man's lust for power had gotten him. He couldn't imagine being so thirsty for power he would sacrifice what made Leon strong. It had been his family, both Gen:Lock and outside of it that had allowed him to make it this far.

-_ I will never stop, not until I transcend this prison of flesh. Give me your power.- _

Prison? Life wasn't a prison, whether it was flesh or a Holon.

-_ Allow me to control the world with it.- _

"Oh shut. up. " Leon snapped, placing the device he slid back down the wires. The timer ticking down at the base of the man's neck.

-_ Do you not understand? I will take what is mine. I will become GOD. No more hiding, no more destruction just peace under my rule. Gen:Lock was to be my sword and shield and you took it from me- _

Leon ignored him as he walked, then ran from the man. Nano swarmed him but he burst through the door to the basement and ran for the outdoors. No one looked at him twice with a wall of seething Nano at his heels. He burst out the doors and ran for a familiar looking Holon laying yards away from where he was.

Outside the base it was pandemonium.

The others were already back in their holons except for Chase who was having the time of his life. He flung cars and tanks with ease as bullets bounced off his form, he was still technically only made of data. Solid only for a little while and when it wore out he would go back into his Holon.

-**_GIVE ME WHAT I DESIRE_**_\- _

"Get out of here!" Leon **shouted** a warning and the others bolted. He felt red hot pain at the back of his head and he reached out.


	15. Chapter 15

Leon opened his eyes, and then closed them.

"I died. I swear this time I actually died. I'm dead. And I'm in hell."

"For a dead man, you're really chatty." Chase remarked from where they sat. Leon would have pressed his hands against his eyes except currently they were made of metal. And he was in a Polity transport being used as a table of all things. He could see Sinclair on the second 'story' of the transport, the other man waved.

"Oh so I'm going to attack, reckless- great weapon master, and … that's ahhh five." Jodie winced at the table. The others; Migas, Chase, Cammie, Yaz and Miranda winced.

"Oh I'm so sorry man." Migas reached out and patted Jodie on the shoulder.

"It's ok, even if Percy dies I still love you." Chase also reached out and patted Jodie on the shoulder, though his hand phased through. "Even though Percy has all our money and gear." Miranda asked pained.

"Wait he has what?!" Cammie yelled and pointed at Jodie. "Don't you dare-" She reached out and Miranda and Yaz had to restrain her from attacking Jodie herself.

" Kill. Me." he looked over to where Kazu and Val/entina were perched.

"Welcome back Leon." Val/entina patted his Holon's shoulder from the floor. Sinclair smiled warmly from his perch and Kazu gave him a thumbs up and Leon's head fell back down with a thud.

* * *

"So you're sure you want to stay with the Vanguard?" Chase asked.

"Yeah it's… home. Not that I'm not down with working with you guys anytime. I just- I'm really tired of dying every time we go out." Leon snorted; pulling away from the Gen:lock team was going to be hard. But he belonged, here, belonged in a Strider just as much as he belonged in his Holon. Also it kept him humble, and away from any potential technopaths that wanted to take what he had.

What he had was a good job, good friends and an even greater family.

"Thanks man." Chase hugged Leon, laughing, and Leon patted his back. While normally Chase's form was holographic. Leon would always be able to touch and to make him solid as often as he wanted.

He really didn't need to know what Chase, Miranda and Jodie were up to. Ever. He wasn't asking and every time they were here he was sleeping in his Holon. Nope. Not thinking about it. At all, ever.

Sinclair sidled up to him and Chase mixed out with a wave.

"So you sure you're staying?" Sinclair echoed the other Holon pilot and Leon snorted; everyone had asked him the same question today.

"Yeah. I belong here; this is home for me. I missed it. Besides we'll work together again." Leon smiled at Robert. He would be sad to see the other man go, but he would see him again; this war guaranteed it. Hell being able to use a Holon would guarantee it.

"Ok."

They stood in silence for a moment before Leon pushed Sinclair towards the ship. "We'll see each other next week. Yeah?"

"Yeah for sure. Uh- bye." He started walking up the platform and Leon began to walk away before he felt something static behind him. He turned and then Sinclair was in his face having teleported to Leon.

He reached up to grab Leon's shirt and mash their faces together before disappearing into the ship. As far as kissing went it was the worst one he'd ever had. All teeth and no warmth of actual affection. Leon had no idea where this had come from, his brain short circuiting too much to reciprocate.

Leon blinked dumbly at Sinclair who pulled away and then the Ranger dropped him practically running up the ramp. The Renegade lifted off leaving Leon in the dust staring out at the sunset unable to process.

On the transport Cammie and Migas groaned as Sinclair held out his hand for the money they transferred him. He stalked away from them red faced; finding a quiet corner where he could sit and think about the warmth in his chest.


End file.
